Glossary

A glossary of key health policy terms is given below:

Agenda for Change
This is a NHS pay system, which applies to over a million NHS staff with the exception of doctors, dentists and most senior managers. The new standardised pay system aims to ensure fair pay and a clearer system for career progression. Staff will be paid on the basis of the jobs they are doing and the skills and knowledge they apply to these posts.

Allied Health Professional (AHP)
Umbrella term for Arts Therapists, Chiropodists, Dieticians, Occupational Therapists, Orthoptists, Paramedics, Physiotherapists, Prosthetists and Orthotists, Psychologists, Psychotherapists, Radiographers, Speech and Language Therapists.

Alternative Provider of Medical Services (APMS)
This is one type of contract Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) can have with primary care providers. This contract is particularly designed to bring in new types of provision, such as social enterprise and the voluntary sector.

Care Pathway
Specifies treatment and care for a given condition based on nationally agreed guidelines, standards and protocols incorporating best practice and evidence-based guidelines. Care pathways, which map out the care journey an individual can expect, are multi-professional; cross-organisational boundaries; and can act as a prompt for care. They provide a consistent standard of documentation, which also provides the basis for ongoing audit.

Expert Patient Programme (EPP)
Programme designed to teach good self care and self management skills to people with long term conditions.

General Medical Services (GMS) Contract
Contract that is the mechanism for providing funding to individual GP practices. It has two elements of funding - a basic payment for every practice, and further payments for specified quality measures and outcomes.

Green paper
Consultation document issued by the Government, which contains policy proposals for discussion and debate before a decision is taken on the final policy options. Following the consultation the Government will normally publish firmer recommendations in a White Paper.

Health Inequalities
Work that contributes to the narrowing of the health gap between disadvantaged groups, communities and the rest of the country.

Indicators/Measures/Metrics
All three of these words are used throughout the Next Stage review reports to describe what care will be monitored to be able to measure outcomes to track the quality of care being given.

Local Involvement Networks (LINKs)
Local Involvement Networks (LINks) are individuals and groups from across the community who are funded and supported to hold local health and social care services to account.

Local Area Agreements (LAAs)
A Local Area Agreement is a three-year agreement based on local sustainable community strategies. It sets out the priorities for a local area agreed between central government, and a local area represented by the lead Local Authority, and other key partners through local strategic partnerships. Local Area Agreements (LAAs) are designed to enable the most effective use of available resources. They encourage local authorities, primary care trusts and a range of local partners to develop joined up plans for meeting the needs of their local population. They are based on the principle that developing services collectively is more effective than in isolation.

National Service Framework (NSF)
Documents setting out national standards for the best ways of providing health and social care services for particular diseases or population groups, e.g. older people.

Outcome
The result or visible effect of an event. The NHS Next Stage Review aims to make a step change to measure clinical and patient reported outcomes.

Patient Reported Outcomes (PROMs)
Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) provide a means of gaining an insight into the way patients perceive their health and the impact that treatments or adjustments to lifestyle have on their quality of life. These instruments can be completed by a patient or individual about themselves, or by others on their behalf.

Payment by Results (PbR)
Aims to provide a transparent, rules-based system for paying NHS trusts for the services that they provide. Payment will be linked to activity. The Government hopes that this system will ensure a fair and consistent basis for hospital funding. Under the reforms to NHS Financial Flows, instead of being commissioned through block agreements as happened previously, hospitals (and other providers) will be paid for the activity that they undertake.

Planned Care
In the acute sector this means care provided typically in hospital or following referral from a primary or community health professional. The care is therefore intended rather than taking place on an emergency basis.

Practice Based Commissioning (PBC)
Enables GP’s to commission care and other services that are directly tailored to the needs of their patients. Practices can keep up to 100 percent of any savings made by agreement with the local Primary Care Trust (PCT).

Primary Care Trust (PCT)
Local NHS organisation responsible for the provision of primary care and community based health services and the commissioning, administration and performance management of healthcare within a defined geographical area. PCT’s work closely with clinicians, practitioners and other organisations, such as acute trusts, local authorities and social services.

Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF)
As part of a new NHS contract, introduced in 2004, GP practices are rewarded for achieving clinical and management quality targets and for improving services for people within a Quality and Outcomes Framework. It sets out a voluntary system of financial incentives for improving quality within the General Medical Services contract for GP payments.

Social Enterprise
Businesses with primarily social objectives that reinvest their profits into the community.

Social Marketing
The use of marketing theory, skills and practice to promote change in health behaviour.

Strategic Health Authority (SHA)
A strategic health authority is a statutory agency responsible for strategic planning and performance management of health services in their area. There are 10 SHA’s in England. Strategic Health Authorities are responsible for:

• Developing plans for improving health services in their local area
• Making sure local health services are of a high quality and are performing well
• Increasing the capacity of local health services - so they can provide more services
• Making sure national priorities - for example, programmes for improving cancer services - are integrated into local health service plans

Strategic Health Authorities manage the NHS locally and are a key link between the Department of Health and the NHS. More information on SHAs can be found on their website: www.osha.nhs.uk

 

Telecare
A combination of equipment, monitoring and response that can help individuals to remain independent at home. It can include basic community alarm services able to respond in an emergency and provide regular contact by telephone as well as detectors which detect factors such as falls, fire or gas and trigger a warning to a response centre. Telecare can work in a preventative or monitoring mode, for example, through monitoring signs, which can provide early warning of deterioration, prompting a response from family or professionals. Telecare can also provide safety and security by protecting against bogus callers and burglary.

Telehealth
The delivery of health related services and information via telecommunications technologies. Telehealth is an expansion of the functionality of Telemedicine and encompasses prevention, treatment, cure and health promotion aspects. Telehealth is generally used as an umbrella term to describe all the possible variations of health care services using telecommunications.

World Class Commissioning
The World Class Commissioning (WCC) programme will support PCTs in developing their commissioning skills, to complement (and increasingly jointly commission with) local goverment and others. WCC will enable PCTs to be held accountable for delivering a more strategic and long-term approach to commissioning services, with a clear focus on delivering improved health and well-being outcomes. The programme will support PCTs to profile the needs of their population, develop datasets to collect, analyse and publish service performance and use innovative forms of public engagement.

‘Year of Care’ approach
Describes the ongoing care a person with a long-term condition should expect to receive in a year, including support for self-management, which can then be costed and commissioned. It involves individuals through the care planning process, enabling them to exercise choice in the design of a package to meet their needs.